


holding out for a hero (larger than life)

by Sharpworksamurai



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anxiety, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I still dont mnow how to set the chaoter count to 1/? Jddjjdjdkkrkr, Illnesses, M/M, Multiple chapters, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 14:31:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharpworksamurai/pseuds/Sharpworksamurai
Summary: Her own gaze is ruined by her quivering lips, but instead she grabs the backpack that neither siblings remember getting, and says,"This will be our new home now, Nicoló.""But Bianca," Nico says, hand tight in hers, "what about Mama?"Bianca looks at Nico and when she opens her mouth, her voice starts to stray and sounds oddly like his own,haunting and echoing in his ears:"Remember Nicoló, we will always be alone.""Remember."//Or in which Nico tries to heal himself after the war. Along the path of self healing, he finds love, acceptance  and friendship.//Or a 3 day in the infirmary fic,, kinda.





	1. slumbers of slumbers

It's silent after the battle. It usually is, Nico ponders, after the fighting, the screams and battle cries, and the sickening thuds of bodies hitting the floor, the noise lulls and it feels like a weariness weighs on them. Nico knows that it's the adrenaline wearing off but looking at the other demigods of the Greek camp, who clutched each other in joy and cheering, Nico realises that the lull, this time after Gaia's and Octavion's defeat, has reformed into gratitude.  
  
Grateful of being alive for another day.  
  
Nico holds back a morbid chuckle and the exhaustion hits him like a truck. It makes his blood congeal and he stumbles forward, his knees hitting the floor. He leans his forehead against the floor,sword distantly clanging.  
  
Just as the darkness overcomes Nico's hazy vision, he feels hands on his arms and blue eyes looking into his own onyx eyes.  
  
So tired.  
  
Very tired, Nico decides as he closes his eyes one last time.  
  
//  
  
He feels light hitting his skin.  
  
That's the first thing he notices. His skin burns in a weird way, crawling and hot and he feels his insides tighten a bit as he remembers how, when he fell, his fingertips passed through the grass effortlessly. Shadows and a fog.  
  
The next thing Nico notices is that he is strangely comfortable. His head is being cushioned and he feels his hands intertwine with a blanket, soft and thin. He wiggles his toes and notices how his boots aren't on, but when he clenches his hands slightly he feels the dig of his skull ring.  
  
Bianca.  
  
It's a hazy thought and Nico feels himself slip under once again.  
  
I'm sorry Hazel.  
  
//  
  
Lately, in his dreams, Nico usually encounters the horrific terrors of Tarturus. His mind quakes as he stutters over the word. He feels the sting of his knees hitting the engorged skin of Tarturus and his bones creaking as he gets up every single time. He remembers thinking, I can lie here. I can die and no one would care.  
  
And then Nico would jolt and think about how horribly Hazel would cry.  
  
And then he would get up and trudge on, body aching, sobbing and still had his sword raised.  
  
But ever since after the battle Nico's dream had been complete darkness, silence with no faces or wretched memories. Just Nico enveloped in nothing and breathing. He floats like he's in a tank full of black water, no feeling in his limbs but not like when he was dissolving into shadows. Breathing but not producing bubbles.  
  
Nico thinks on how this darkness is almost comforting and tries not to think about the pit.  
  
He continues to breathe the darkness.  
  
//  
  
Occasionally, his vision of black would flicker and he would see a different shade of black; morbid, alone and yet a rule of life.  
  
His father squinted at him from across the dining hall. His hair is braided back and his eyes are still as mirthless as ever, reminding Nico of Bianca's face when he kept begging for extra candy, despite her strict no junk food rule. Hades leans back in his chair and still does not speak, instead choosing to evaluate his son like a puzzle or a game of some sort.  
  
Nico avoids his gaze and looks around the dining hall of the Underworld. The chandeliers glint and cast off a grey light, illuminating the rich wood of the table. There are twelve chairs, all empty and looking brand new, tucked in neatly. On the table, a single rose in a vase is decorated by skeleton ornaments, infused with rubies and diamonds.  
  
He sits across from his father.  
  
Finally, Hades speaks.  
  
"You are doing well."  
  
"Huh?" Nico holds back a flinch. It's not often his father compliments his work, nor is it often that his father can praise Nico without bringing up the reminder of his dead sister.  
  
Considering all Nico has done; regimented himself into the enemy camp, undetected, discovered the doors of Death, trespass and survive Tarturus without any help, and be the biggest factor in aiding the reunion of the two godly camps- Nico would hope he has done well.  
  
Hades blinks, as if he was expecting a flushed mess of a boy and not a stoic man.  
  
"Yes. I have had a difficult time in getting in contanct with you."  
  
"Yeah, I've been..." Nico doesnt know what to call it. His slumber? Coma? Purgatory? "Unavailable. For a while I think. I'm not sure."  
  
He looks up at his father through his eyelashes and offers a weak grin, "hopefully the Underworld hasn't fallen in my absence."  
  
His father snorts and Nico suddenly realises that this us how Percy felt when his father shone on him.  
  
"Nico." Hades' tone is sharp and somewhat mellow as he leans on the table on his forearms. He tries to make eye contact with his son but looks away swallowing.  
  
Nico dreads what he's going to say and doesn't utter a word.  
  
"I wanted to say- as- as your father- thank you. As a boy,you have endured too much. The loss of your sister," Hades swallows, "fighting in two wars, living through three, and falling into tarturus. A man and yet at the same time a boy whose voice still cracks."  
  
Nico offers a weak grin but still feels a sob build up in his throat. He wants to blame his father for everything; the casino, Bianca, Tarturus, the Jar. He wants to lash out at his father for killing Maria, for helping escalate thousands of deaths.  
  
Nico wants to be the small boy who crawls into the back of his mothers handbag closet and cry when there is a thunderstorm, and not a soldier.  
  
But when he sees his father's face, set in stone and yet eyes sorrowful whenever he looks at Nico and sees Maria, he sees another chess piece.  
  
"Dad-"  
  
"Nico," Hades smiles a shaking smile and Nico forgives himself on not ridiculing the tears in his father's eyes, "Thank you. I am proud of you."  
  
Nico gets up to say something,maybe to hug his father or maybe to demand for anything that makes him feel less like a machine and more of a human, when his father's face begins to blur like a hand had been viciously swiped through an iris message.  
  
The colours of his fathers pale face distort but Nico still remembers that smile.  
  
//  
  
He is back in the tank and the water tastes like pomegranates.  
  
He tries not to think about the Jar and how he was slowly suffocating and starving to death. He can still hear the giants lumbering around, laughing at when Nico had enough strength to call for his mother and cry.  
  
He tries not to think about how his suffering had been undetected on the demigods living on the Argo II radars.  
  
//  
  
Nico is huddling against the shelter, knees shaking and tries to stifle his sobs. He is so afraid that his family would die then, limbs splattering off like in the comic books he had read behind his mothers back. It was called World War II and even though the neighbours praised their country for fighting, Nico sees the soldiers coming back home with bloodied stumps for limbs and hollow humans still breathing.  
  
He shakes against his mother who hushes him. Across from him, Bianca scowls and he knows later on that she will make fun of him for being a mommy's boy.  
  
"Mama," Nico whispers, "I don't want to go to Heaven if I'm not with you and Bianca. Can you tell God that?" His Italian is strong but the shock on his mother's face is stronger.  
  
"Nicoló," his mother chides, running a finger through his scalp, "do not think like that."  
  
Bianca watches them, weary, and it is silent for a beat before she says, "Can you tell God that I don't want to die, Mama? I want to grow up and be an actress like you. I want to find a boyfriend maybe." Bianca blushes and Mama swallows down her own tears before laughing a crackling laugh.  
  
"Children, we won't die. Don't be silly."  
  
Nico sits up and squints at his mother with the focus of a six year old can muster, "Mama, when we die, can you tell Papa to wait for us in Heaven?"  
  
Mother is crying now and Nico still doesn't know why.  
  
"Of course, butterfly. He'll be waiting."  
  
A few days after, his mother is killed in a lightning strike that the media dub as a freak accident and a sorry loss for Italy's beloved actress.  
  
A few days later, his father is not waiting. Instead stands a woman in a suit and with fangs for teeth.  
  
A few days later, Nico is bathed in a river and he forgets how his mother cried, despite her smile.  
  
//  
  
The tank is filling up now and Nico ponders on if he cries, whether his tears will be black too.  
  
//  
  
The taste if pomegranates is strong on his tongue and Nico tries not to think about how Bianca's favourite perfume that she wore to try to get her crush's attention was also faintly reminiscent of that.  
  
//  
  
More bombs drop and a lot more people die but Nico can't remember any of that.  
  
//  
  
The light of the Lotus casino hurts Nico's eyes. He tries to tell Bianca but she shushs him with a hard glare.  
  
Her own gaze is ruined by her quivering lips, but instead she grabs the backpack that neither siblings remember getting, and says,  
  
"This will be our new home now, Nicoló."  
  
"But Bianca," Nico says, hand tight in hers, "what about Mama?"  
  
Bianca looks at Nico and when she opens her mouth, her voice starts to stray and sounds oddly like his own,haunting and echoing in his ears:  
  
"Remember Nicoló, we will always be alone."  
  
"Remember."  
  
//  
  
Nico groans as his eyes start to flutter open and light assaults his eyes. It burns his retinas and his eyes waters. He can't move his hands or limbs, still exhausted despite the distant scent of pomegranates wafting in his nose.  
  
He hears a shout and the lights are dimmed. The noise feels like gravel in his ears, actual sound that isn't an hallucination or from a weird fever dream.  
  
Blue eyes poke into Nico's field of vision and the boy speaks, voice like honey,  
  
"Hi, Nico. Can you hear me?"  
  



	2. solo (so low)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico wakes up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I havent blood of Olympus or any of the other books in so long , a few years, so excuse ig I got anything wrong lol

Nico tries to get up by pushing himself onto his forearms but he let's out a pathetic whimper when he feels peals of something between a sting and tiredness in his body. He doesn't know how long he's slept or even where he is but seeing the red cross in the front of the door and the medical supplies lying on the side, he assumes he's in the infirmary.   
  
He squints but his eyes still water against the bright ring lights that surround his small bed. He lets out another groan and doesn't bite the hand that pushes him down.   
  
He looks underneath his eyelashes and Will Solace is hovering over him with the same aggravated but resilient furrow in his brow.   
  
"Can you hear me?" He repeats, hands circling Nico's thin wrists as he counts his pulse.   
  
"Yeah," Nico breathes out and his eyelids still feel heavy, "I want to- to sleep, Will- can you.. can you turn the lights off?" His voice ends in a whisper.   
  
"Nico, you've been sleeping for roughly two weeks now."  
  
Nico jolts back in shock. Two weeks? He'd lost decades to the Lotus Casino and weeks to the pit and the jar. He feels his skin crawl and he pushes himself up against the pillow, ignoring how his fingers ache, and leans his head against the wall. Will is still standing above him and Nico notices how he is wearing scrub shirts and khaki shorts that are looped with a chain belt. His blonde hair is pushed back from his sky eyes as if he had been running his hands through it too many times. Around his neck is a stethoscope and on his arm is a red bandana, tied tight, that supplied the first aid cross.   
  
"I've just been.. sleeping?"  
  
"Like a log." Will settles himself at Nicos feet.  
  
"Whilst you were asleep I stitched the slash wounds on your arms, I hope you don't mind," the soft look on his face changes as he scowls, "Those slash wounds were so deep and you carried on fighting with them? What the Apollo's lyre, Nico?"  
  
Nico blinks, "Reyna stitched them-"  
  
"She did? Listen, I dont care that shes a orator, her stitching technique was all wrong! The needle was going in not deep enough and not tight enough- I'm surprised you didn't get sepsis or gangrene!"  
  
A cough sound behind him.   
  
"As I was saying before I was interrupted by- Praetor Reyna! Fancy, uh, seeing you here?" Will yelps and quickly stands up, making Nico snort. Will sends Nico a wivering glare but Reyna smiles and claps him on the arm, making him flinch. Nico is chuckling now and he tries not to feel surprised, considering how bone tired he was a few minutes ago.   
  
"Well, Bill was it?"  
  
"Will, ma'am!"  
  
"Yes, Bill. I would like to talk to Nico here so if you could leave us Bill?" Reyna smiles innocently and Nico is cackling by now when he sees the childish pout on Will's face.   
  
"I mean, I'm sure Austin's shift is over.." Will gives Nico a cold look, "don't you dare move about Mr. I Can fight a hoarde monsters with a potentially infected arm."  
  
"That's too long,dweeb." Will humphs and stalks out of Nico's private infirmary room but not before pointing to his own eyes and then Nico's in the "I'm watching you" motion. The door shuts with a thud and Nico blows a laugh out from his nose. Reyna is watching him with a smile.  
  
"You going to take that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What he said about your horrible stitching skills."  
  
Reyna rolls her eyes, "I am the Prateor of a whole Roman society, does it look like I have time for pursuing a talent in medicine?" Reyna ponders a hit before saying, "though maybe it would be a good idea to start implementing first aid classes-"  
  
"I'm not Zhang, Prateor." Reyna grins again but falls silent.   
  
They sit like that for a bit, Nico resting his eyes as much as he can with lights assaulting his vision and Retna fiddling with a strand of her hair. It's not awkward and is quietly content.   
  
"I was worried, Ambassador." Nico opens his eyes and narrows his eyes at Reyna. Like Hades, Reyna is not a friend of obvious emotions that aren't anger or authority.   
  
At Nico's questioning look, she elaborates. "When I came back to the battlefield, you were- dissolving into shadows at such a rate that you're body was practically sinking into the soil. It's not," she swallows, "it's not exactly a nice feeling to try to help your quest partner but your hands pass through him."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Reyna nods to herself, "but that boy- Bill-"  
  
"Will."  
  
"- he didnt panic. He exposed you to as much sunlight as he could and tried to heal you as fast as he could whilst you were asleep."  
  
"I didn't- didn't have?"   
  
Reyna shakes her head, "no you didn't have a nightmare. Slept like a log from what I've heard from Hazel. Though Jason did say once you were murmuring something about your father? I'm not sure." Nico opens his mouth to say something, maybe tell her about the fiasco with his father and the tank and the visions of his past when the door slammed open.  
  
"Speak of the devi-" Nico got cut off when Jason stormed towards him and wrapped him in a tight hug, breathing out heavily when his hands didn't pass through him. Nico stayed stiff for a moment and when he went to wrap his arms around Jason, he pulled back and inspected his face,pulling back his hair in the same way Bianca did.   
  
Nico tries not to purse his lips at the thought.   
  
Instead he playfully smacks away Jason's hands and says, "hello to you to."  
  
"Dude,I was so worried. For real," Jason sits down from across from Reyna and they both give each other a nod.   
  
"Imagine me coming across Reyna screeching her head off for Hedge to get some unicorn draught in the middle of field of black grass."  
  
"Black grass?"  
  
"Yeah. Our running theory is that you either took the grasses energy to stay solid as much as possible or you tried to spread the... shadows? Dude, I don't even know," Jason rambles.   
  
"Oh shit!" Jason says and smacks himself on the forehead, "are you hungry? I'll go get something for you."  
  
Nico thinks back on the tank and how in the pit he had to survive off of dead monster flesh and his stomach turns. "No. Not really."  
  
Jason gives Nico a look and opens his mouth to say something when Nico cuts in, "how is uh-everyone?"   
  
Reyna looks at Nico in the eyes, strong headed, "Percy and Annabeth are... recovering I suppose. I haven't really talked to them but they seem in their own world, expected from the survivors of..." she looks away, "Hazel and Frank are in Camp Jupiter right now, even though she wanted to stay here with you. But they had to go to fix Octavian's mess, "Reyna rolls her eyes and Nico tries to suppress a flinch.  
  
"Yeah- me and Piper are probably gonna stay here with Reyna for a few days to try to get some policies for the Camp reunions. Though- Nico-" Jason swallows hard.   
  
"Is Leo really-?" He cuts himself off and Nico stares at the shadow forming underneath his jaw.   
  
"I felt his soul leave," Jason flinched, "But- but something was very unusual about his death. I'll have to look over it later when I'm, uh, not basically chained to a bed by an annoying Apollo boy." Nico offers a small huff of a laugh to fix the mood and feels a bit better when Jason quirks his lips up a bit.   
  
"Are you still going to leave?"   
  
The question stops Nico in his thought.   
  
He remembers Bianca's haunting words of how he will always be alone, even though Reyna herself had vouched for a place at Camp Jupiter and Jason obviously wanted Nico to stay at Camp Half blood. Nico yearned for a warmth from anyone; he was so used to people slapping him in the face with rejection after rejection and for what? For who his father is? The resentment kept building up and whenever Nico had thoughts like this, he thinks on that nightmare he had a lot after the titan war where Kronos was echoing in his head.   
  
He remembers telling Jason how people treated him as if he walked around in sewage and he flinches.  
  
Then he thinks about his father; about how he wished Nico to be the first of his children to be happy, and not being driven mad by their own mind. Nico himself is hopeful and maybe-just maybe with Nico delivering the statue of Athena, the demigods will see this as a token of gratitude.   
  
Nico hopes and hopes-often they get crushed.   
  
But sometimes they come true-life with Hazel, or with confessing to Percy and him not being disgusted, or maybe finding a friend in Reyan and Jason.  
  
The silence continues for a bit and Nico breaks it with, "I'll stay."  
  
Jason cheers and grips Nico's hand, which makes him roll his eyes and Reyna visibly relaxes. The shadows outside the door flickers for a bit and then the door is slammed open with Will standing there, red arm band and pout still in tact.   
  
"Were you eavesdropping?"  
  
Will scowls and says, "No, you dork, I was checking up on Mellie's-uh- body. You don't know the grave horrors I've witness Nico. Not after delivering a satyr baby with these hands" He stalks forward, "look at my hands! They're shaking!"  
  
He leans forward to grab Nico's hands, and even though Nico flinched and pulls away, Will still has a dramatic look on his face before he starts laughing. Jason snorts and Will checks his watch.  
  
"Well, you guys, I'll have to ask you to leave. My shift ends in a bit and I still need to ask Nico some questions as his-peraonal doctor."  
  
Jason and Reyna bid Nico a farewell and a promise that they'll visit soon and Nico quips back, "you're not a doctor, Solace."  
  
"I'm hurt, truly!" Will clutches a hand to his chest but still settles down. His sky blue eyes are alit with mirth and Nico knows that even when Will is scowling, he would never truly be mad. Even though Nico hasn't met Will for long, he's only ever seen him a juvenile mood or his serious doctor mode, both of which could be considered cute if Nico's body wasn't basically shutting down.  
  
Nico notices that he hadn't thought of Percy once.   
  
He should feel dread but looking at Will across from him, he prays that Nico will be happy for once.   
  



	3. ill be the prom queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will learns more about Nico

Will helps prop up Nico against the fluffed up pillows despite his arguments and attempts to push his hands off. Will had just given him a look like, dont test me Death Boy, which had made Nico huff. Eventually, the lights are dimmed down, not by much but at least there was less chance if Nico having a migraine, and Will was rifling through the drawers beside his bed for something.   
  
Eventually, Will pulls out a clipboard and makes his way to pull up a chair and sit down on it. He pats his pockets for something and finally yanks out a pen, making Nico roll his eyes.   
  
Will had just stuck out his tongue and Nico tries not to bristle.   
  
"Okay Mr Di Angelo! What's your name?"  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"100%!"  
  
"Nico Di Angelo." He doesn't mention his real name because it felt like it was a secret that only his mama and Bianca knew off. Maybe his father and the thought makes his heart clench a bit. He fiddles with the edge of the thin bed sheet and wiggles his toes in the same way he did when he was in jar and still hadn't succumbed to the death trance yet.   
  
Will shoots him a smile and scrawles it down.   
  
"Cool! Where are you from?"  
  
"What's this for?" Nico scathes, reluctant to give out personal information, no matter how superficial. He only wants to be known as the son of Hades and nothing more.   
  
"I'm trying to make a medical file for you. You-uh-ran away before the Apollo cabin could come around to you. And uhm- your sister." Nico flinches at the reminder of his own childishness and gives a sharp nod, his jaw clenching.   
  
"Italy."  
  
"Uh-huh. How old are you?"  
  
"14. I think. Maybe."  
  
Will gives him an odd look and asks, "you think?"  
  
"Well, if you can remember anything when your own father dipped you in the Lethe, make sure to tell me. I'd love to know," Nico snaps. He wants to go back to sleep and maybe talk to Hazel but, now that he was back and confined to the infirmary, any usual plans and purpose had gone away. He still had the burial rites to do, but other than that, he didn't know what else to do.   
  
Nico swallows and the furrow in Will's brow makes him look away. If everyone else was as annoying as this, he would back out of his promise to Jason and leave.  
  
Irritating in the same way Percy is.  
  
"Uhm. Okay. So- your birthday?"  
  
"28th January. 1924? I think? Not sure, Father hasn't told me much. About- before the river."   
  
Will looks even more confused but bit his tongue and write it down. He looks uncomfortable but it isn't look like how Nico is feeling; it looks more like as of he was restraining himself from giving Nico a hug or something.   
  
Ew. Hugs.   
  
"Any medical info we should know about?"   
  
"Uhhhhhh-" he tries to think it over, but shrugs, "like I said, father hasn't told me much."   
  
Will looks even more weirded out and even Nico knows that his statement was strange. The fact that for once a godly parent knows more about his child's life was equally depressing and sweet.   
  
But to Nico's own ears it reminds Nico of how much of a soldier he is.   
  
His only purpose is to fight- a machine, a puppet.   
  
Nico might as well be a hollow being- he didn't know anything from his childhood and didnt even have a chance to construct his own personality and shield before being thrown into the demigod world.   
  
(But the word responsibility branded Nico like a burn. As a ten year old, he knew how much he burdened Bianca.)  
  
Nico counts his toes again -one, two, three- and Will breaks the silence by asking, "okay. Can you stand up for a bit? I need your height."   
  
Nico frowns but complies by grabbing the rails of the bed and hauls himself up. Black spots enter his vision but Will grabs his shoulders and eases him back. Nico flinches back from the touch but doesn't jostle Will when he manages to lean Nico back till he was standing in front of the bed.  
  
The floor is cold on his feet   
  
He limps to the stadiometer and tries not to slouch when Will pushes the tab down to his head, pressing hard against his hair.  
  
"5'6. Okay. Now your weight?" Nico glares at Will but pushes himself to stand onto the scale a few meters away. He didn't really understand the shocked look on Will's face. It was unusual how concerned he was about Nico, he had only experienced that with Hazel, but probably because she had to, as his sister   
  
(Responsibility.)  
  
"Dude what the hell?" His face is pale and he looks so worried that it nearly make Nico topple over, "no wonder your so thin! How have you not collapsed or something?"  
  
"Solace. I'm in the infirmary."   
  
Will rolls his eyes and chewson his lips, "do you- uh do this to yourself?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Not eat?"  
  
"The fuck? No-" but he thinks about the jar and he spews out, "I mean, maybe- but only cus I had to."  
  
Will gives him a confused look again and helps Nico back to the bed.   
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You don't know?" Will shakes his head like a little child and Nico leans back against the wall with a sinister smile.  
  
"Your resident son of Hades was locked in a jar for, like a week,I don't know. I had to put myself in a death trance to not use up all the oxygen and I lived off of pomegranate seeds until the others came," he barks out a mean laugh, "couldn't come any later, I say. Thought I was going to die."  
  
Will didn't say anything back and didn't write that down but still fiddled with the pen.   
  
"And some other shit, but it's whatever," Nico leans forward and watches Will with wide eyes, "point is, bandage boy, I can handle this shit. And I have done so before. Don't go around meddling with me and I'll leave you alone, capiche?"  
  
Will stares at Nico with wide eyes, the colour of skies was doll-like and glassy and his mouth was open as if in shock. He looks so hurt and Nico,for some reason, thinks he went too far until-  
  
"Bandage boy?" Will's face twists into a scowl and leans forward to yank on Nico's ear, making him yelp.   
  
"You call me, the person who saved your life, is the head counsellor of the infirmary and immune to Reyna's wrath, bandage boy?" He sneers, yanking on Nico's ear once more before pulling back and wiping his cheek with too much dramatics deemed necessary, "I'm hurt, ghostie. Really."  
  
Nico glares at him. Unlike other people, this one sat and stayed by Nico. No hard looks, no flinched or visible winces when Nico came into the room.   
  
If Nico wasn't so perturbed, he would have found the situation kinda funny.   
  
"Ghostie?"  
  
Will tuts. He leans forward and goes to hold Nico's hand before hesitating. Nico tries not to be disappointed.   
  
"I know what the people in camp say about you. That your weird and a freak and whatever, but honestly? I couldn't give one." Nico stares at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You, Nico Di Angelo who was born in 1924, is human- or well a demigod- just like everyone else. You need love and compassion and most importantly nice hugs, which I can provide free of charge," he grins at Nico, who tries not to flush.  
  
"What I'm trying to say is that I would like to be your friend. If you'll have me."   
  
Staring into Will's vivid eyes, Nico could tell he is being sincere. For some reason, this lunatic wants o be the death son's friend and help him. He wants to know Nico not as a fellow soldier but as a person- and that thought makes Nico falter.   
  
He wonders what Bianca would think.  
  
(Remember.)  
  
Nico looks down and gives a sharp nod before glancing away and demanding, "Where's the food? I'm starving and you call yourself an infirmary?"  
  
Will laughs,loud and vibrant, and he sticks his tongue out playfully. He gets up to the door, probably to the pavilion or to Chiron, and gives a salute without turning around.  
  
"Aye, aye, captain."  
  
Even though Will had left now and Nico was alone with his thoughts, Nico swears he could still hear Will's laugh echoing in the infirmary room.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this the next chapters might be written in a oneshot style chapter each being loosely chronologically connected
> 
> It takes the pressure of me to create a good storyline lol something that im bad at


End file.
